Mathematical puzzle.



A. HERMANN.

MATHEMATICAL PUZZLE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.13, 1917.

1L @TQWK, Patented July 2, 1918.

ZUNM ZUNM a w INVENTOR 1 s i: A

, I'll A I Annotn HERMANN, or snrssune, nnnn'sr vAnrrA.

trA'rnnnArricAL ruzztn.

aa'roei a i To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, ARNOLD HERMANmresiding at Sharpsburg, in the countyof Alleghenyand State of Pennsylvania, acitizen of Switzerland, haveinvented or discovered certain new and useful" Improvements inMathematical Puzzles, of which improvement the following is a"specification. c

The object of my invention is to provide a puzzle whereby one of aplurality of symbolssecretly selected by one person maybe determinedbyanother person.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings forming part of my specification,I have illustrated one embodiment of my invention. Figure 1 is a faceview of a card on which the puzzle is represented, and Fig. 2 a faceview of an index card to accompany the puzzle.

All!) The puzzle which I provide comprises a plurality of groups ofsymbols, each symbol and each group of symbols having an assignednumerical value, the sum of the numerical values of the groups in whicha given symbol occurs being equal to the numerical value of such givensymbol.

While any desired symbols may be used, such as pictures of objects,persons or animals, the symbols preferably used are the letters of thealphabet, each of which is conveniently assigned the numerical valuecorresponding to its position in the alphabet. These letters areconveniently arranged in five groups which are assigned respectively,the numerical values of 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16. It will be found that thenumerical value of these groups will when taken separately or variouslyadded to each other, indicate any number from 1 to 26, there beingtwenty-six letters in the alphabet. For example, in arranging theletters in the several groups the letters A, B and D, the first, secondand fourth letters of the alphabet ap pear only in the first, second andthird groups whose assigned numerical values are, respectively 1, 2, and4:, while other remaining letters appear in two or more groups whose sumof assigned values equals the as signed value of the letter. Thus thelet ter M, bein the thirteenth letter of the alphabet, and ence whosenumerical value 13, appears in the first, third and fourth groups, whoseassigned numerical values are 1, 4 and 8, the sum of which is 13. Fromthis single example, the placin of the other letters in groups will hereadi y understood.

specification of Letters JPatent. V

Patented Anne, lei.

Application filed August 13, 1917. Serial No. 185,903.

"It will be manifest that thezgroup's can be arranged in any desiredway, either in geometric figures or otherwise. In the illustrativeembodiment of the invention the five groups are arranged in five sectorsof the circle, each group being designated as a zone. The letters andzone numbers maybe variously indicated on the card, althoughit ispreferred to print each letter upon a disk or button 1, slidable withinand removable I from slots 2 formed in the card. Also, the

zone numbers may besimilarly mounted upon the card.

Fig. 2 shows an index card to accompany the puzzle, on which card theletters of the alphabet are arranged in one line in their natural orderof sequence, and the number of each letters position in the alpha betindicated below such letter. In the same manner on the index card thenumerical value 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16 of the several zones 1, 2, 3, 4: and 5respectively, are indicated.

In using the puzzle an initiated person, that is to say, oneunderstanding the puzzle, and who has the index card of Fig. 2 or hasmemorized its information, asks an uninitiated person to select one ofthe letters of the alphabet and to indicate by zone numbers each of theseveral zones in which such selected letter appears. If the letter J bechosen, the uninitiated will say that it appears in zones 2 and 4. Andfrom the index card of Fig. 2, or from the memory of its contents, theinitiated will find that zone 2 has assigned a numerical value of 2 andzone 4 the numerical value 8, the sum of which is 10, and he will thenknow that the selected letter is J, the 10th letter of the alphabet.From this simple use of the puzzle, it will be readily seen that anydesired symbols may, as already stated, he used. The advantage of usingletters, however, appears from the fact that words may be built, theuninitiated indicating the several zones in which appears each letter ofthe word selected.

According to the provision of the patent statutes, I have described theprinciple and operation of my invention, together with one embodimentthereof. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the Iclaim as my invention: 1. In a puzzle, a plurality of groups of symbols,each symbol having an assigned numerical value, and each group ofsymbols having an assigned numerical value, the sum of the numericalvalues of all groups in which a given symbol is found being thenumerical value of such symbol.

2. In a puzzle, a geometric figure divided into a plurality of :zones,each zone having an assigned numerical value, and a plurality of symbolsin each zone, each symbol having an assigned numerical value, the sum ofthe numerical values of all zones in which a given symbol is found beingthe numerical value of such symbol. V

3.-In a Word building puzzle, a plurality of groups of lettersof thealphabet each letter having an assigned numerical value, and

Copies of this patent may be obtained for each group of letters havingan assigned numerical value, the sum of the numerical values of allgroups in which a given letter is found being the numerical value ofsuch letter.

4L In a Word building puzzle, five groups of letters of the alphabet,each letter being assigned the numerical value of its position 1n thealphabet, the groups being assigned numerlcal values of one, two, four,01 ght and sin teen, and each letter appearing in groups I five centseach, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

7 Washington, D. 0.

